Kool Stop Dura 2 Brake Insert

Product Information

Swissstop’s nomenclature for their pads takes a second to get your head round, but it makes sense once you know it. Kool Stop Features: Angled Water Groove | Asymmetrical Design | Dual Compound | Plow Tip | Salmon Compound | Spherical Washers This is one of the more economical ways to get Dura-Ace components on your bike. If you are going to have top-of-the-range parts anywhere on your bike, the part that controls your speed is probably the best place for it. Carbon isn’t as good as aluminium at conducting heat, meaning that carbon rims have a greater tendency to heat up. If the rims get too hot, you risk starting to melt the resin that holds the carbon fibres together and causing your inner tubes to pop, or even a failure of the rim itself, although modern carbon rims usually use high iTg resins to make them more resistant to heat build-up.

Most traditional center-pull cantilevers and some center-pull calipers, such as Mafac, use smooth studs A softer compound will be more grippy and offer better braking – especially in the wet. However, because the compound is softer, it will wear faster than a harder compound. On the bright side, a soft compound is easier on the rims, meaning they’ll last longer before you have to replace them.If your brakes, caliper or cantilever, use threaded hardware, the "Mountain" model is the very best you can get, for road or off road use. The callipers, cable housing, and brake levers all have a role in determining how a braking system performs but it is the pads that have the greatest singular effect.

One-piece pads are cheaper to manufacture and so are often specced on lower value bikes or bikes that are trying hard to come in below a certain price point. The brakes tend to feel a little mushier and the pads tend to be made from lower performing compounds to keep the costs down. They can be a little difficult to get hold of in the UK, but a definitely worth the extra effort for those who are concerned about performance. Both Sram/Shimano and Campagnolo versions are manufactured. After the pads, the next most significant improvement you can make to your brakes is upgrading to compressionless cable housing. When you squeeze the brake leaver, some of the force goes into clamping the pads against the rim, but some is lost as the cable housing is compressed.This guide is road bikes with calliper rim brakes only. If you have a hybrid/mountain bike with V-brakes and pads with threaded stud, these won’t be suitable. The same goes for touring/cyclocross bikes spec’d with cantilever brakes that take a smooth stud. Which pad for which rim

Scott-Mathauser and the "Salmon" pad. Despite the superior design of Kool Stop brake shoes, for years, Scott-Mathauser brake shoes were the finest available, due to their patented salmon-colored rubber formula. (The "secret ingredient" is iron oxide, a.k.a. "rust", which is what gave them their distinctive color. Scott-Mathauser brake shoes were manufactured under contract by Kool Stop, but the hardware and shoe shape was determined by Scott-Mathauser. The less expensive Scott-Mathauser shoes had rather clunky mounting hardware; the deluxe models were overpriced and featured bogus "cooling fins." Despite these limitations, the very special Scott-Mathauser compound was so much better than anything else available, that Scott-Mathauser brake shoes were widely recognized as the best perfomers in their day. These are the top choice for cyclocrossers looking for some real braking performance on carbon rims and road racers who aren’t put off by the wet. Although carbon rims have a reputation of sketchiness in the wet, these pads deliver confidence where others don’t. Chain reaction Cycles and CRC are trading names of Wiggle Ltd (In Administration) registered in the United Kingdom at 1000 Lakeside, Suite 310, Third Floor N E Wing, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO6 3EN, The traditional Kool Stop compounds and colors remain available, but we strongly recommend the salmon-colored Scott type.

One-piece pads are cheaper to manufacturer and so are often spec’d on lower value bikes or bikes that are trying hard to come in below a certain price point. The brakes tend to feel a little mushier and they tend to be made from lower performing compounds to keep the costs down. Compounds This Dual Compound model is the top choice for modern mountain bikes with direct pull brakes, and for road bikes as well.